RMIT Classification: Trusted

Bubble Bar

This case study is fictional

Bubble Bar, a well-recognized bubble tea business, was founded in 2015 in the capital city of Vietnam,
Hanoi. Its founder Ms. An, started with one outlet in Hanoi and now owns 28 branches across the
country. 12 are located in Hanoi, 3 in Danang and 13 in Ho Chi Minh City. 165 employees are currently
employed by Bubble Bar in the different coffee shops.

Today the success story of award-winning entrepreneur Ms. An has taken a bitter turn; For the first time
in the history of the company, one of the Ho Chi Minh city branches had to be closed, as it had been
operating at a loss for more than a few months.

Drastic changes are urgently required to avoid having to close more branches across the country, as six
other operations are now no longer generating any profit and barely covering the operating costs.

In efforts to understand how things went so wrong, and in order to address those problems, Ms. An met
with Mr. Hung, Manager of the now closed branch, to go back through the main reasons of the failure.

According to Mr. Hung, the main reason for sales dropping month after month, and reaching a 30% loss
in the final month of operations, was poor customer experience. Looking for solutions, Mr. Hung had
surveyed the different online rating websites, and noticed many negative comments and feedback about
the customer experience.

Mr. Hung argued that although he was trying his best to improve customer satisfaction and train his staff
as well as he could, it was impossible for him to do so, as his team was constantly changing. Many
employees stayed just for a few weeks and then quit. Mr. Hung explained that he often found himself
understaffed or having to deal with staff with very little experience. He added that many of his team
members often turn up late to their shifts, adopted poor attitude on the job and used excessive
numbers of sick leaves. Looking for new staff became an ever-growing part of his already heavy
workload. e

He also felt overworked as all decisions, however insignificant may they be, had to be passed through
him. For instance, a simple mistake in an order had to be approved by him, for the staff member to be
allowed to prepare a new drink and correct the mistake. He found the following comment on an online
platform from an upset customer: “After paying for my order, the wrong drink was given to me 10
minutes later… I complained to the waiter, and 20 minutes later nothing had been done to fix the
problem, I had to leave for work, did not get my drink and did not get reimbursed… Avoid this venue at
all costs!”

Later on, Ms. An came across an ex-employee who was collecting her last paycheck. She asked the
waitress how she felt about the closing.

The woman confessed that she was not sad her employment was terminated with the closing of the
shop, and that she was enjoying her new job at a similar competing business, which she had found
before being made redundant. When she was asked why, she explained that whatever her performance
 RMIT Classification: Trusted

or the quality of a work, there were no ways for her to increase her income, as they were no bonuses or
special rewards for high performing employees.

She also saw no career prospects as it seemed impossible for her to become branch manager, never a
branch manager had been promoted internally, they were always hired from the outside, making it clear
that career development opportunities were very limited.

Finally, she told Ms. An that she did not enjoy coming to work, as she felt no connections with her
colleagues and manager. The strong staff turnover and no formal meetings or social events with teams,
meant that she never had a chance to truly make friends at work.

Tips: Happy Coffee

ITM concepts covered in the course this case relates to: Human resource
management/Power/Empowerment/Organizational culture from Module 2 to 6.

You must follow the marking rubrics structure when writing your case study analysis. All of your analysis,
solutions and their implementation must be supported by credible sources in your reference list, not
assumptions (“According to” VS “I think”).